


Thanks for the Memories

by DKGwrites



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: let's put Sam in season 4, this could lead to AgentReign, this works perfectly with the CW's lack of continuity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 14:17:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15245199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DKGwrites/pseuds/DKGwrites
Summary: Declared completely human after being purged of Reign’s taint, Sam plans to spend the day with her daughter Ruby and her good friend, Lena.  In National City, things rarely go to plan.  Watching Supergirl in a fight, and seeing Alex in danger, something unusual happens to Sam that makes the group fear she may not be entirely human after all.





	Thanks for the Memories

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve heard many people say they wish Sam would come back in season 4. The problem I see is her not being another Jimmy Olsen. I have nothing against Jimmy as a character, and I like Mehcad, but I think he’s been mishandled by the CW.  
> If you make Sam Kryptonian, she takes away from Kara. If she is human, what’s her plotline? Well, here’s one idea that makes her a useful team member, a wildcard anytime the writers paint themselves into a corner, of no use when the writers don’t want her to be, a possible love interest for Alex if the CW wants to go that route, and also someone who can help to get Supergirl and Lena communicating again all without taking away from Kara’s role. This is just one idea in a short fic.

As Sam and Lena finish packing the picnic for their day out, Ruby stands in front of the TV, bouncing slightly in place.  Supergirl is fighting an alien and struggling.  The thing has twice as many eyes and arms as Supergirl, and it’s giving the Kryptonian a run for her money.  Even more concerning, the figure of Alex Danvers can be seen in the background circling around both aliens as she tries to get a shot off on the hostile alien without hitting the Kryptonian.

“Rubes, are you ready to go?” Sam calls out.

“She going to get hurt.”

Brows furrowed, Sam walks into the living room, placing a hand on her daughter’s back as she looks at the image on the television.  “Sweetie, she’ll be fine.  Supergirl knows what she’s doing.”

“No, not Supergirl.  I mean … wait, look, back there!  It’s Alex!”

“Oh.”  Sam nods.  “Okay, that is a bit more concerning, but I’m sure she’ll be … Lena!?”

“What?  What’s wrong?”

Sam is pointing at the television, her other arm wrapped around Ruby who holds her mother’s hand in both of hers.

“Oh, Supergirl.”  Lena deflates immediately, her head following the roll of her eyes as she looks at Sam.  “Why am I here?”

Sam clears her throat, lifting her brows and pointing with her chin.  “Alex.”

“Alex?”  Lena looks at the screen again, frowning when the camera pans past the agent in question who is yelling orders to other DEO agents.  Lena crosses her arms.  “Sam, it’s her job.  She knows what she’s doing.”  Still, Lena’s face and tone lack the confidence of her words.

“Well, yeah but—”

“Sam,” Lena places her hand on Sam’s shoulder, “there’s nothing we can do.  If I could help, I would help.  Trust me, Supergirl doesn’t want my help.”  Lena turns, heading back to the kitchen.  “Anyway, I have no idea what kind of alien she’s fighting.  We have no way of helping her.”

Sam nods as she watches Lena leave, but her attention is quickly back on the screen again.  The fight continues, Alex firing on the alien and scoring a hit which only seems to annoy it but garners her a response of a chunk of concrete half the size of her body being thrown at her head.  Alex dives and rolls out of the way.  Ruby yelps and Sam gasps as they watch the near miss.  Then Sam stiffens.

“Mom.”  Ruby pats her mom’s hand.  “Mom, that hurts.  Mom, you’re hurting me.”  Ruby twists out of her mother’s grip which has tightened on her upper body, not damaging but too tight to be comfortable.  Turning, she stares up at Sam, “Mom, what’s wrong with—”  She stares into Sam’s eyes, into the slight blue glow that comes from behind them, and panics.  **“Aunt Lena!!!”**

“What!?  What going on—”  Lena proves she runs much better when she isn’t wearing three-inch heels.  She’s in the living room within two seconds, no stranger to the difference between the sound of someone overreacting and the sound of abject terror.  Ruby has looked into her mother’s face and seen Reign, so the girl is not one to overreact.  Seeing the glow of Sam’s eyes, Lena pulls up short.  “Oh, my God.”

“What is it?  What’s wrong with her?”

“I … I don’t know.”

“But she’s not Reign anymore.”  It’s a statement, but Ruby’s gaze slides between the adults as if looking for reassurance.

Lena reaches out, taking Ruby’s hand and pulling the girl back even as she steps between mother and daughter.  “Sam?  Sam, can you hear me, sweetheart?  It’s Lena.”  Lena’s heart pounds in her chest as Sam doesn’t respond, so she reaches out a trembling hand.  “Sam?”

Sam’s sharp inhalation causes Lena to pull back.  “Nevorterians, four-armed, four-eyed, white-haired biped, are an indigenous species of the planet Ulaxal which is located in the MACS JO717 galaxy.  Capable of interstellar travel, this species’ technological capabilities are centuries behind that of Krypton.  Though generally peace loving creatures, the larger females are known to become aggressive when looking for and failing to find a mate.  They have hard exoskeletons and strength far greater than that of Kryptonians.  However, sensory receptors on their backs are extremely sensitive especially to heat.  They are well known for their poetry and music.”

For several seconds more, Sam stands stiff, that slight glow coming from her eyes, and then the blue fades as her eyes return to their chocolate-brown hue.  She blinks, swaying slightly to find two sets of hands steadying her.

Sam smiles, shaking her head.  “Whoa, got a bit woozy for a moment there.  Ruby, could you get me a glass of water?”

Ruby looks like she’s prepared to argue, but Lena pats Ruby on the shoulder and nods, encouraging the girl to do as she was asked.

Alone with Sam, Lena asks, “Sam, what did you just see then?”

“What do you mean?”

“You were staring at the television and your eyes …” Lena holds Sam by the elbow, leading her over to the couch where they both sit.  “Darling, what do you remember?”

Sam’s eyes widen, and with obvious sincerity, she asks, “About what?”

Lena sighs, running a hand through her hair.

“Lena, you’re scaring me.”

“I don’t mean to.”

“And yet you are.”

Lena nods, denying nothing.

“Here, Mom.”  Ruby has returned, holding the glass of water out, concern flowing from daughter to mother.

“Thank you, baby.”  Sam takes the glass and a sip, smiling up at her daughter and giving the young girl’s hand a gentle squeeze.  “I’m fine.  Whatever it is, I feel fine.”  When she tries to pull her daughter closer, Lena slides between them on the couch and takes Ruby’s hand, urges Ruby to sit so that Lena separates mother and daughter.  Eyes wide, Sam asks, “What did I do?”

“Nothing,” Lena assures.

“Your eyes were glowing.”  Now that the dangers seems to have passed, there’s awe in Ruby’s voice.

Lena turns to her right, shoots Ruby a look.

“Well, they were!”

“I was Reign!?”

“No!” Lena’s head snaps back, her hands on Sam’s shoulders.  She leans down slightly to make sure she holds Sam’s gaze, cutting off the rising panic.  “Sam, you were not Reign.”

“But my eyes—”

“No!”  Lena’s look is fierce, defensive, as she accepts no argument.  “I’ve met Reign.  I know Reign all too well.  You were not her.  I swear to you, you were not her.”

Sam nods, breathing heavy but calming slightly.  “Okay, then what?”

Lena licks her lips, mouth opening and closing several times without words.  “Honestly, I have no idea, not yet.”

“You said something about Krypton.”  Both Sam and Lena turn to Ruby at those words.  “You talked about planets and galaxies.  You talked about it like you were a Kryptonian.”

Sam tenses.  “That sounds like Reign.”

“Sam it wasn’t.  It was just,” Lena’s gaze shifts to the screen as she watches the alien land a particularly nasty blow on Supergirl, “informative.  Excuse me.”  She rises, grabbing her phone from the coffee table and making a call.  She stands, one arm wrapped around her torso as her gaze shifts between the television and the couch.

Ruby slides next to her mother.  Sam raises her arm but then stills, looking over and waiting for Lena’s nod of assent before holding her own child.  She’s back to this again.

It’s four times now five times that Lena’s made this phone call before someone picks up.  She raises an eyebrow at whatever greeting she receives.  “I realize that.  We’re watching you on TV.  That’s why I’m calling.  You see, Sam and Ruby—”  Lena sighs.  “Chastise me later, Agent.  Right now, I have some information that may help your coworker in red and blue.  Can you get her information?”  Lena nods.  “Yes, about the alien.  Thank you.  All right, tell her we think the alien is a female Nevorterian, and she has some kind of sensors on her back that are extremely sensitive to heat.  Might that be useful in this fight?”  Lena looks at her phone briefly before placing it down on the table again.  “I got a ‘thanks’, and she hung up on me.”

“Alex?” Sam asks.

Lena nods, taking a seat on the couch and running a hand through Ruby’s hair.  It’s a motion meant to be calming but to calm whom it’s difficult to say. 

The three sit in silence watching the fight on TV.  Supergirl is looking worse for wear, and then she stills, nodding at something only she can hear.  The Kryptonian surges in at her opponent, striking high and then ducking low.  Alex appear on the screen firing at the alien’s face.  It’s little more than an annoyance, a distraction, but perhaps that’s the point as Supergirl ducks under a swinging arm and comes up behind the alien.  Eyes glowing yellow, Supergirl releases a blast of heat vision directly into the alien’s back.  Its howl is inhuman.  It falls to its knees, the heat vision continuing to bore into the alien’s back before it collapses, unmoving, to the ground.

“Extreme heat directly to its receptors,” Sam says breathing a sigh of relief.  “The sensory overload causes a feedback loop that renders the creature immobile but still conscious.  It’s the surest way to fell a Nevorterian.”

Ruby gasps, smiling.  “Mom, you know stuff!”

“No I,” Sam shakes her head, but her eyes widen and her jaw goes slack.  “How did I know that?  Lena, how did I know that?”

“You’re not Reign,” Lena replies, grasping her friend’s hand.  It’s not an answer, it’s an assurance.  “I don’t know what’s going on, but I know you’re not Reign, and I will get to the bottom of this.  You trust me, right?”

Sam kisses the side of Ruby’s head and nods.  She’s alive right now because of Lena.  The world might still exist right now because of Lena.  A little bit of faith isn’t much to ask in return for all the young Luthor has given.

“Always.”  Sam squeezes the hand in hers, closes her eyes and inhales the scent of Ruby that will always bring back a memory of that baby even if Ruby has one of her own one day.  “So, what do we do—”

Lena’s phone buzzes on the coffee table, and everyone stares at it.

Frowning at the device, Lena rises and picks it up, stares at the name on the screen before answering.  “Hello?”  She tips her head to the side, raising her impressive brows as she looks over at mother and daughter.  “I’ll explain but not here.  Your place in twenty.”  There’s a pause and she nods.  “Fine, be there when you can.  We’ll see you there.”  The phone is partway from her ear when she brings it back, her frown returning.  “Yes, we.”  She sighs.  “No, I don’t expect you to like this.  I certainly don’t, but it seems we don’t always get what we like in this world.  Let’s just pray this falls under us getting what we need.”  Hanging up, Lena says, “We’ve been summoned.”

Sam slowly rises to her feet.  “To?”

“To the DEO.”

“Cool.”  Ruby smiles up at her mom, hugging her.  “The DEO is cool.”

“I’m glad one of us thinks so.”  Lena heads off toward the kitchen.  “I’ll grab our lunch.  It seems we’ll be picnicking indoors today.”

 

<><> 

 

Sam paces in an all too familiar lab in the DEO as she watches Alex and Lena, their heads practically touching, as the two women talk in whispers.  This could be months ago when Sam had barely managed to move from Lena’s lab to the DEO, when she’d gone from defeating Reign to fading under the Worldkiller’s power.  This is all too familiar, like the emotional equivalent of a scratched record, and she’s ready to pull the plug on the damn player.

“Mom!  Mom!”  Ruby runs over, a skipping Supergirl in her wake.  “Supergirl caught them all!”

“Well, all the ones out so far.”  Supergirl smiles brightly.

Sam looks back and forth between her daughter and the hero several times, the crease in between her brows deepening.  “Aliens?”

Ruby laughs, squeezing her mother’s hand.  “No, Pokémon.”

“Oh.”  Just like that, Sam relaxes a bit with this piece of normalcy.  She shakes her head as she recenters into this topic.  “I didn’t realize Supergirl played.”

“She goes all over the globe.  She’s been to all the special events.  She’s caught them all.”

Supergirl ducks her head, reaches for her face and her hand freezes, hovers as if she’s lost her place before she brushes her fingers through her hair, lifts her head, and smiles.

Sam’s head twists slightly as she watches the hero, but her daughter’s voice is pulling her out of the half-recognition.

“Mom, do you want to see them?”

“I’m sorry, see what, sweetie?”

“Supergirl’s Pokémon.”

“Oh.”  Smiling broadly, Sam shrugs.  “Well, who could say no to that offer, though I feel like she has a bit of an advantage seeing as how she can fly all over the globe.”

“You can’t fly and catch them, Miss Arias.”  Supergirl pouts.

Sam narrows her eyes, staring at the hero’s familiarity again, but motion from the side overtakes her attention as Lena and Alex approach.  “Well?”

“Well, we repeated the tests we did after splitting Reign from Samantha,” Lena explains as she taps at her tablet.  “Your vitals are normal, though your blood pressure and heart rate are understandably elevated.  Your cells are not metabolizing sunlight abnormally.  Your metabolism remains regular.  There are no signs of—”

“You’re not Reign,” Alex says.

Lena turns her head sharply to the other woman.  “I was getting there.”

“Yeah, but you were running a marathon on the way.  As much as I enjoy foreplay,” her eyes widen and Alex shrinks in on herself, an apology written on her face as she looks over at Ruby who, happily, is still smiling up at her mother, “we needed to cut to the chase here.  You’re not Reign.”

“Well, thank God.”  Sam squeezes Ruby, rubbing her back.  “Did you hear that?”

“I knew you weren’t, Mom.  You’re one of the good guys.”

“I second that.”  Supergirl bounces slightly on her toes as she speaks.

‘Thank you,’ Sam mouths silently.

Supergirl shrugs, looks from person to person.  “So …”

“So,” Sam echoes Supergirl’s thought and adds, “If I’m not Reign, what am I?”

“Human,” Lena says immediately.

“But—”

“You’re human Sam.  Your tests all show human.”  Alex reaches out, squeezing Sam’s upper arm.  “Lena and I triple-checked each other’s work, and you’re human.”

“Then how did I know what I knew?”

Making eye contact with Lena, Alex nods.

“Here’s what we know.”  Lena taps at the tablet, and an image appears on a screen which Lena turns to face.  “This is Reign’s brain.  It generally looks like a human’s brain sharing the same physical characteristics.  As you can see, 75% of the brain still consists of the cerebrum.”

“By volume, not weight,” Alex says.

“Of course, by weight it would be 85%.”  Lena nods.  “Covering the cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue called the cerebral cortex or neocortex.”

Alex presses a button, the light from a laser pointer appearing on the screen on a particularly bright grouping of lights that are already there.  “Then there’s these sections, the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland.  These control several functions but among them are feelings like pleasure and aggression.  Bam!  When you were Reign, even when you were unconscious and Lena was able to get a scan on you, her, get a scan on her, these were lit up like a Christmas tree.”

“Right, aggression.”  Sam sighs heavily.  “I’ve seen the news clips … unfortunately.”

“That’s not your brain though, Sam, this is.”  Lena taps at the tablet and the screen changes slightly.  The brain looks outwardly the same, like a cookie cut from the same cutter, but there is a distinctive difference in one large section, a glow of lights spread across the top of the brain and another section seems dimmer.  “You see, your hypothalamus and the pituitary glands are no more active than an ordinary human.  However, that neocortex is another matter altogether.”

“Okay, sure, brain, lights neohypopituitary … I have no idea what either of you two are talking about.”  Sam just holds Ruby closer.  “Could you maybe put this on a spreadsheet for me and build some formulas into it?  Math, that’s a language I speak.”

“I thought we were being fairly clear.”  Lena frowns, raising an eyebrow at Alex.

Alex has the good graces to look sheepish.

“Guys, could you just explain to her what it means when you say that her neocortex is showing an unusual amount of activity, please?”  Even Supergirl seems to be running out of patience.

“Long-term memory,” Alex says without any further explanation.  “Your long-term memory is running on overload, Sam.”

“Is that … good?”

“It’s not Reign,” Lena says.  “We have a theory.”

Supergirl elbows Ruby and grins.  “Of course, they do.”

Ruby smiles, nodding.

“Earlier at your house, when you were concerned that Alex was going to be hurt by the alien, you suddenly were able to retrieve information on that alien.  You knew its species, planet and galaxy of origin, and how to defeat it.  Sam, it’s unlikely that you only have information on that one particular alien that just happened to be threatening Supergirl and Alex.”

“What are you saying, Lena?”

“Supergirl, when you faced Reign, she didn’t just fight like a Kryptonian, she knew things like a Kryptonian, right?”

Supergirl frowns at Alex.  “Well, she seemed to.  We didn’t exactly make a lot of time for conversation outside of the ‘punish the sinners’ type of thing.  Mainly it was just a lot of punching.  Mainly it was just a lot of her punching me,” that last bit is mumbled.

“What Alex means is, although Sam is now physically human, and her brain is that of a human’s, there is clearly a residual effect from her time as Reign.  It’s not bad.  In fact, this could be quite good, quite good.  Our working theory is that Sam may still have Reign’s—”

“Memories from Krypton,” Alex jumps in speaking over Lena’s words.

“What?” Sam shakes her head, squinting.

“What?” Supergirl steps closer to Lena and Alex, her voice cracking.

“What?” Ruby’s face is pure, unadulterated joy.

Lips a tight line, Lena stares at Alex.  “All right, that time you cut me off.  I was just about to speak, just about to say that, but you couldn’t hold back.”

“Well, you take forever!”  Alex raises her arms and slaps them down at her sides.  “All you needed was three words.”

“I’m Irish!  I never need just three words.”

Ignoring the building argument, Supergirl asks, “You remember Krypton?”

“No, I don’t … I mean, I don’t know if I—”

“But you might.”  Supergirl steps closer, her hands settling ever so gently on Sam’s shoulders.  “You might.”

“I,” she glances over at Lena and Alex who have quieted and are nodding, “guess?”

The smile on Supergirl’s face rises like the sun in the morning.  “Will you tell me?  Whatever you remember, will you talk to me about it, about home?”

“Um, I guess, but I really don’t know if—”  And just like that, she’s enveloped in the gentlest hug from some of the strongest arms on the planet.

Wide-eyed, Sam stands stiffly, her gaze shifting to the others while the hero continues to hold tight.  Each person’s reaction is different.  Alex’s smile is soft, filled with understanding.  Lena breaks eye contact almost immediately, whatever is on the tablet seeming to be far more interesting than this little homecoming.  However, it’s Ruby’s face where Sam’s gaze lands and settles.  Her daughter is looking up at Sam like she hung the moon, with the wonder of a toddler.  It’s the look a teenager doesn’t give their parent, and it’s enough to make Sam wrap her arms around Supergirl in return.

“Of course,” Sam assures.  “Whatever I remember from Krypton, I’d love to talk with you about it.”

“Thank you.”  Supergirl pushes back to arms-length again.  “I’d really like that.”

“So would I.”  Sam holds out her arm and Ruby joins in the hug.  “So would I.”

 


End file.
